Three days ago, Sega has surprised everyone with the announcement of a new Initial D arcade game! They revealed the first info about the game today. First the name: Initial D Arcade Stage Zero. The game will use a new cabinet (the same cabinet was used since Initial D Arcade Stage 4). It will feature a 6-speed speed shifter (instead of the sequential one). Sega also announced a new soundtrack maybe composed by songs from the latest Initial D movies as the game charadesign shown in the trailer is the same than in the movies... Maybe all the game will be based on them. There is also a renewing of the save system: save card is now AIME and not a proprietary one anymore (it means that you'll be able to use the same IC card for both Wangan Midnight and Initial D). You won't be able to use your Initial D 8 card. Initial D Arcade Stage Zero will be on pre-location test from August 4 to 7 at the following game centers: Sega GiGO Ikebukuro, Club Sega Shinjuku Nishiguchi and Sega Akihabara Building 1. It will be divided in two phases: on August 4 and 6: Time attack and on August 5 and 7: Nationwide competition. In competition mode, you can ask for a revenge race. Players will be sorted into teams according to the game center where they are. There are 6 players per group. Example: players 1-6: Red Suns 001, players 7-12: Red Suns 002, etc... They are divided like this: Red Suns: Sega GiGO Ikebukuro, Akina Speed Stars: Club Sega Shinjuku Nishiguchi and Night Kids: Sega Akihabara Building 1. Various goodies will be given at the location test: fans, stickers and clear files. A trailer of Initial D Arcade Stage Zero is available here.

Ultraman Fusion Fight! is a new Data Carddass game from Bandai. It uses cards of the same format as the cards that appear in Ultraman Orb, the new TV series that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Ultra Series. The player can use two Ultra fusion Cards to create a combination as in Ultraman Orb. For example, he can combine an Ultraman Card and an Ultraman Tiga Card to transform into Ultraman Orb Spacium Zeperion. There are also game exclusive cards combinations. Bandai has already announced 56 cards. You can watch the trailer here.

MÚSECA 1+1/2 is released today. This is the sequel of Konami's MÚSECA. There are now 2 game modes: pure game and mission. In pure mode, Grafica can be used but they will not cause any effect. In mission mode, Grafica skills will affect the game. Grafica elements work like this: COOL counters PASSION, PASSION counters NATURAL, NATURAL counters COOL and PURE and DARK counter each other. The interfacer is easier to naviagate and charts can now be unlocked directly from the songlist screen during any stage. Only scores and unlocked songs from MÚSECA can be transferred to MÚSECA 1+1/2, Grafica are reset.

Sega's medal game StarHorse3 fifth chapter will be available tomorrowy. The theme color is renewed from purple of Season IV to yellow. In this new season, the World Derby Tournament features the ultra-long-distance race "WBC LONG" (5000m) which is held in Honolulu. A total of 18 satellites of StarHorse3 Season V - Exceed The Limit can be connected and each one features a 32" LCD touch panel and a reclinging seat for a great comfort.

A large update of Synchronica is out today. The cabinet design is totally renewed. New songs and features are added: the rating assess the player's skill progress, the high degree of difficulty "PANDORA" is now playable at any time.

"Available for your home in 1995 only on Nintendo Ultra 64 ... Killer Instinct". All players remember this announcement coming out of the Killer Instinct arcade machine released by Midway in 1994. We also remember what happened next; the game would arrive on console in 1995 as expected but... on Super Nintendo and Game Boy, the release of the Ultra 64 (later renamed Nintendo 64) having been pushed back. A soundtrack CD was provided with the Super NES cartridge. This CD titled Killer Cuts included 16 remixed themes (including one hidden song). Composed by Robin Beanland and Graeme Norgate at Rare, the soundtrack is memorable for anyone who played the game at the time. It's now available on 180g vinyl pressed by the iam8bit label! Remastered for vinyl by Infrasonic Sound studio in Los Angeles, it's announced as something never heard before! Icing on the cake, a loop screaming "c-c-c-combo breaker!" indefinitely is available at the end of side A. There are 3 available covers, each representing one character of the game. You have the choice between Spinal (clear vinyl), Sabrewulf (blue vinyl) and Fulgore (green vinyl). While the cover of the 1995 CD showed a 3D rendered Spinal, real puppets were created by artist Chelsea Bayouth for the new covers (that's why Spinal is different on the new edition). The "Fulgore" version (with a metallic cover) is a limited edition available only during the weekend of EVO 2016, it's... this weekend! Specifically, you must pre-order this record between Friday, July 15th at 9:00am PDT (19:00 CEST) and Sunday, July 17th at 11:59pm PDT (Monday, July 18th at 8:59 CEST). It won't be available anymore after that time, its purchase offers you a chance to win the actual Fulgore puppet in a drawing! A digital version of the soundtrack is offered with every purchase. The Spinal and Sabrewulf editions are $25 each and the Fulgore edition is priced at $28. You can also do an Ultraaaa Coooombo by buying the 3 vinyls at once for $78 (that is, no discount at all). As is almost always the case nowadays, they come as pre-orders; vinyls will be delivered to you in October 2016. The online store is different depending on whether you are Europe or in America.

The new update of Taiko no Tatsujin is out today. The new color is red and the visual theme is Mt Fuji. Collaborations start with Macross Î” and crossbeats REV.: The first opening and ending from Macross Î” are featured (Ichidodake no Koinara and Ikenai Borderline by WalküreDont). By playing these songs, players can win live concert tickets, physical goods and in-game Petit-chara and mech outfits. The collaboration with crossbeats REV. starts with the songs Over Clock ~Zenchou~ and Over Clock ~Kaihou~. crossbeats REV.'s character Akatsuki becomes available as Petitchara when the player plays Over Clock ~Kaihou~. Many new songs are already available including anime songs from Crayon Shin-chan, Digimon Adventure, Aikatsu Stars! and Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away). The game features Mauchu, a new character designed by Studio Ghibli.

Sega Joypolis celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with a new attraction: the Zero Latency VR. It's a free-roam multiplayer VR (virtual reality) system created by Sega Live Creation that will open on July 23. The first game available for Zero Latency VR is a shooting game named Zombie Survival. The action takes place in a town that is attacked by a horde of zombies, the players fight the zombies to protect the rescue base. The game area is 16,8m x 16,8m (282 m²) and the playtimeis 30 minutes (briefing time 15 minutes + play time 15 minutes). Reservation for the attraction start on July 19, 9:00 on the special site. Up to 6 people can play together. The age limit is 13 year old minimum and the price is 1800Yen. You can watch the Zero Latency VR trailer here and the Zombie Survival trailer here.